English
"2010: 411.000 copies of the Nemere-books, in Hungary only."
"I feel myself to be a part of them: optimism wins trought in each of the stories. I really do believe there's always a way out."
THE MAN WITH FOUR HUNDRED LIVES
He has worked as a factory-hand, a woodcutter, a lifeboatman, a seller of books, a soldier, a surveyor, an autopsy assistant and a film extra. And he ’s had „normal jobs”, too: librarian, insurance agent, ambulanceman, and press secretary. Since 1980 he has worked freelance. He considers this latter lifestyle to be the pinnacle in terms of the work ethic. His current place of residence is an isolated farmstead in the woods of the Great Hungarian Plain. He is a collector of books and recent maps. For 15 years his main vocation has been writing novels.
His name is István Nemere.
It is said the people create their own destiny. Do you think it’s true?
If it was true, then I might have moulded my life to be how I wanted it. But when Í refused a place at university, I had no choice but to set off in another direction. That’s whyí my curriculum vitae lists so many different jobs. I had a taste of what it was like to be a free sailer. There was just one fixed point in my life: I was sure that I would be writing by the age of 25.
Was this because you had already tasted freedom?
That was part of it to be sure. As a writer, one can separate oneself off from other people.
How many of your books have been published? It’s about four hundred, isn’ t it?
Yes, that’s right. And I’ve sent a further 20 or so to the publishers. Actually, I’m rather put off by journalists who keep repeating the sheer number of my novels rather than mention their quality
Which is your favourite story?
A story called Mountain, which tells of a group of humans who live in detachment from this world. Some years ago, a publisher persuaded me to write a sequel, and the two stories were published together. My other favourite book is a story about the relationship between a brain-damaged child and his father. The little boy’s mother dies during childbirth, but his father decides to bring the child up on his own. In fact, this novel was based on a true story: there are similarities to the life of the Japanese writer and Novel laureate Kenzaburo Oe, whose mentally-handicapped son lived for thirty years.
Is this your mode of work? You read up on things, fill in the gaps when something catches your imagination, and there you have it, a novel...
Yes, in fact it is. I think other people do the same.
Do you sketchan outline first ordoes the story unfold by itself?
I rarely draft an putline. And I never do so when writing a book for or about women – under the pseudonyms, Melissa Moretti, etc. I tend to set off at Point A and let the story run until Point B. It’s always about some woman or other that’s got stuck in a rut. The novel shows the reader how she manages to clamber out. Moreover, each of myí novels serves to acquaint the reader with a specific profession: the heroine is a female war correspondent is Africa, a perfume manufacturer, or a nurse working in a hospital in the tropics.
Do you like writing such stories?
Yes, I do. I feel myself to be a part of them: optimism wins throug in each of the stories. I really do believe there’s always a way out.
Do you have any special tips?
I’ve always been the healthiest of chaps, but three years ago I suffered a deep vein thrombosis and then a lung embolism. I was hospitalized for the first time in my life: I had to lie in bed for 25 days without getting up. I refused to countenance wasting so much time, so I began composing in my head a Moretti-like story. In fact, I thought of a new story everyday and condensed it into a page of notes. They’ve since beenwritten up and published.
Are you a manic worker?
Yes, I am. I live by a strict regime – I work on Saturdays, on Sundays, on Christmas Day, and even on my birthday
To what extent do youi take into account the needs of your readers? Have you attended many writer-reader meetings?
Well, yes, I have, but I tend to meet with the publishers, so they can tell mi to my face what they’d like. They actually have some great ideas. If I’ve written two historical novcels one after the other, they’ll tell me to do something different – a romantic short story or something about the paranormal.
Do you truly believe in mysterious occurrences?
It’s not a questions of belief – they do exist. UFO’s are real, and so are paranormal abilities: it’s just that science doesn’t know where to put them. Most people find it hard to countenance things that are beyond their undertanding. I occasionally go to conferences on the subject, and give a lecture or two. I’m not a starry-eyed believer in UFO’s: I don’t believe everything I’m told. But I do say that if pictures of UFOs have been drawn since ancient times, then there must be something to it.
When writing a novel on a historical theme, how much do you research the real facts? For instance, when writing about the private life of Miklós Horthy, did yíou delve into this historical sources?
All of my historical novels are based on facts. In Royal Lovers, I wrote of ladies that have influenced, in some manner or other, great historical personalities. I have now written zten volumes n the history of Hungary – one hundred years per volume. I have done so from the vantage-point of the lovers, grandchildren and bastard sons of important men.
How much time do you spend on writing such a book?
I have no idea, because I never work on just a single book. For instance, in the morning I will be writing a romantic novel – which is not such a taxing task – while in the afternoon I will be working on something else or translating a short story. Sometimes I will collect material for five or six years. I have more than seventy things on my mind at any one time. Of course, half of my ideas will never materialise – or someone else will express them, before I do. I like to browse and take notes – I record who said what and whem, interesting facts, dates, etc. This was how I wrote my book on the history of the secret services. If I’m uncertain about something, then I write myself a note sucxh as: that’s what was said at the time. I ’ve written about the private lives of many different people, from Attila, the Hunnish king, to Mátyás Rákosi. I’ don’t voice emotions, cricise or praise. I just write what a person did, and tell readers what kind of person he or she was.
Do you write quickly?
Yes, very quickly. This makes many people souspicious of me. Wehen starting a ride a book, I tend to write down everyday how much i want to write. I make a note of the chapter titles, and consider when to introduce a new chapter to the story. I always know what to write six months in advance.
Don’t you ever get tired of writing?
No, I don’t. Although sometimes it would be good to do something else.
Such as?
Travel. There was a time when I travelled a lot, but recently I’ve done less travelling. Since my illness, I’ve not dared go far from the clinic. Perhaps this year.
Where would you go?
To the seaside, every time!
Is it easy for a woman to be your wife?
I’m already on my third wife, so the answer is a resounding no. My first marriage lasted less then two years. By the age of 22 I was a father. Clearly, the whole thing was less than serious. I don’tever argue, in fact, it’s impossible to pick an argument with me. On the other hand, my lifestyle tends to revolve arounds a closed box. It needs a special person to put up with this. When i’m writing, it’spracticalkly impossible to have a chat with me. I can’t be budged from my room for the whole morning. An unexpected guest might find himself torn to bits. In the afternoon, I go for a long walk – six to eight kilometres. Then I go home and read the papers. I am self-sufficient in the sense that I’m quite content to be in my own little world. Few women can bear it. It’s impossible to get mi to go a dinner-party. There are many things I experience in my books rather than in real life. If my ancestors have experienced it, I feel like it’s happened to me too.
Reporter Csilla Mihalicz.
Travel Service’s Inflight Magazine, Budapest 2005 Summer.
István (= Steven) Nemere, born in 1944, is a best famous hungarian writer. You can reed his books in 10 countries, in 14 languages, in 11.000.000 copies.
István Nemere has written over 500 books published in 10 countries and 14 languages. Some11,000,000 copies have been produced and the man is still writing.
This great amount of books cover a range of genre types and not just science fiction. They also include: fantasy, criminal detective stories, romance and erotic novels, children books, political novels and different non-fiction books. There are historical books, analyses of modern history (such as the KGB, Nazis, Mafia, secret invention etc.) or historical accounts of past events that have shaped our modern world. Then he has covered Fortean phenomena (such as UFOs, cryptozoology, and paranormal phenomena). Fortunately for us he also took time to write over 30 science fiction novels.
The following listing represents just the SF books of his bibliography. The number beside each refers to the opus number on the website (in hungarian: „Bibliográfia”).
A selected SF bibliography.
2. A Triton gyilkosságok (The Triton Crimes), 1977. On the Earth in the future arrival of extraterrestrials is detected, and strange crimes are committed. The Planetary Police are alerted.
6. A Neutron-akció (The Neutron Action), 1982. This novel helped Nemere co-win the EUROCON Award in 1982. It is a tale of ET terrorism.
11. A kozmosz korbácsa (The scourge of the Cosmos), 1982. A strange disease apparently comes from outer space. But is it a natural phenomenon or something else?
14. Kalózok az űrben (Cosmic Piracy), 1983. A civilian tourist ship is taken by space pirate gang. The captured pilot knows that nobody can possibly help him. He must rely on his own resources to survive.
16. Elektron expedició (The Electron Expedition), 1984. A planet is colonised by humans from Earth. However the planet has a developed ecology. The colonists begin to realise that the animals are intelligent creatures and they have to re-evaluate their attitudes.
17. Időtörés (Fracture in Time), 1984. In a southern American country a strange dictator comes to power. Despite the people hating their ruler, nobody knows why there does not exist any opposition to the regime. The ruler apparently has super-normal abilities even clearly he is human. Then suddenly a group arrives to oppose him nad they have strange abilities too.
20. Ébredés előtt (Before waking), 1985. In the future the entire population of the Earth enters into a long and deep sleep. A returning spaceship observes that not every man is unconscious: some people gather the nuclear weapons and take them to a small country.
23. Holtak harca – Játszma tíz milliárdért (The Fight of the Dead - A Game for Ten Bilion), 1986. Here are two novels published in a single volume. In the first a criminal on the run goes into suspended animation to escape capture and execution. He hopes that the future will be kinder to him. But the police agent pursuing him will not let him escape so easily and puts himself into hibernation as well. „The Fight of the Dead” will continue in future but has hibernation taken more than just the passing of time?
In the second novel, „A Game for Ten Bilion” an asteroid comes towards Earth from the depth of space. A group of astronauts tries to divert the asteroid from its trajectory, but how will they do this? The solution comes in the form of a billiard game...
25. Zuhanás a Napba (Falling in the Sun), 1986. A strange great object enters the solar system. It transpires that it is an artifical hollow planet. The protagonists realises that inside there might reside intelligence. But is it alive?
26. Klausztropolisz (Claustropolis), 1986. Beneath a great Scandinavian research centre a scientist discovers a hidden subterranean city. There they find a civilisation datting from the Middle Ages but are they really from such remote times?
27. Az utolsó bolygó (The Last Planet), 1986. Oban Dorg is exiled from Earth to a lonely planet called Tendal. But shortly two astronaurt saved from a catastrophe land on this planet. This novel represents the start of the ’Dorg Saga’, a serial of novels about the Dorg family.
31. Terra (Terra), 1987. It is the far future and humanity has long colonised the Galaxy. However over this time there have been conflicts and interstellar war so that the historical records are far from complete. Consequently such basic knowledge such as Homo sapiens world have vanished into myth. Was there an Earth?
33. Vadak között (Between the Savages), 1987. Oban Dorg’s wife goes to Earth to try to get the conviction against Oban Dorg over-turned. But occult powers try to stop her. This is part of the ’Dorg Saga’.
35. Skorpió (The Scorpion), 1987. Dorg’s children in South Africa encounter a strange creature. This is part of the Dorg Saga.
38. Lenni vagy élni (To Be or To Live?), 1988. The Martian odyssey of one of the Dorg boys. This is a part of the Dorg Saga.
41. Aranybolygó (The Planet of Gold), 1988. The Moon odyssey of the Dorg brothers. This is part of the Dorg Saga.
48. Pokoljárás (Going to Hell), 1988. Heroes from Greek mythology (Deadalus, Icarus, Ariadne and Theseus) live in the future.
51. Alfa-művelet (The Alpha-action), 1989. Letta Dorg, the Dorg children’s mother goes to Mars to find out what happened to her boys. This is part of the Dorg Saga.
58. Túl a Plutón (Beyond Pluto), 1989. Astronauts exploring the outer solar systeme discover a new planet beyond the Pluto. On it there is a strange labyrinth.
60. Hajnal a Trendalon (Dawn on Trendal), 1989. Letta Dorg tries to establish a new colony on Trendal. This is part of the Dorg Saga.
67. Az Esemény (The Event), 1989. An ET arrives on Earth. The novel describes the next three days.
80. A Titán terv (The Titan Plan), 1990. Trin Dorg, one of the Dorg boys, discovers a cosmic laboratory, where some demented geneticists are creating mutant brains. What else would they be doing we hear you cry... This is part of the Dorg Saga.
102. Világok világa (The World of the Worlds), 1990. In a superworld there exists a powerful race, the Eternals, who make games out of such mundane pastimes as creating new universes. It transpired that Homo sapiens are merely a by-product of these activities...
103. A téridő istenei (The Gods of Space-Time), 1990. Magnus and Negat are superios beings who can materialise in human form. One is the embodiment of good, the other the Evil. The history of Mankind is a fight between these two in different forms from the time of Atlantis, to the future cosmic era.
117. Kozmikus összecsapás (Cosmic Figth), 1991. Magnus and Negat continue to battle in the form of different extra-terrestrial intelligences.
122. Istenek harca (The War of the Gods), 1991. Magnus and Negat encounter a planet similar to Earth. But the locals will have none of this good-evil conflict. Finally we discover that they are a new, artificial humanity created be superior beings, the Eternals.
142. A kráter árnyéka (The Shadow of the Crater) 1992. Letta Dorg is old (75 years) and has become a grandmother. But the cosmic child pirates are coming... This is part of the Dorg Saga.
162. Terek könyve (The Book of Spaces), 1994. The only non-traditional science fiction book by Nemere. It is written in the form of an encyclopaedia of the planet Arten. The book can be read in every direction, every entry is a beginning or an end it itself. The book was also released as a diskette.
262. Borzalom (Horror), 2000. A small strange object comes to Earth from space. But every person, who comes into posession of this object is later found murdered. Why?
185. Atlantiszról jöttem (I come from Atlantis), 2000. The old civilisation of Atlantis departed Earth along time ago to go into another dimension. Left behind are some agents from Atlantis to ensure that evidence of the civilisation is completely destroyed. But one of these agents is captured. A commando team from Atlantis is sent to save him...